Planning by Ballot Local land use ballot measures and

No ordinance that is either proposed by initiative petition and adopted by the vote of the legislative body of the city without submission to the voters, or adopted by the voters, shall be repealed or amended except by a vote of the people, unless provision is otherwise made in the original ordinance.” Sec. [...] If the state chooses instead to grant some measure of local control and autonomy, it has authority to impose procedural restrictions on the exercise of the power granted, including the authority to bar the exercise of the initiative and referendum. [...] Additionally, proponents of slow growth measures believed, in many cases rightly, that the measures were necessary to protect open and agricultural spaces from the threat of development.5 In the 1990s, urban planners began to rethink the traditional growth management tools. [...] Proponents of this type of initiative do not circulate maps showing the affected area of the city, and they do not present text from the general plan or zoning to the electorate as part of the signature-gathering process. [...] In 2021, HCD issued a letter stating that Measure A ran afoul of state law.26 The City of Alameda then set aside the provisions of Measure A in order to adopt a compliant housing element.27 23 See the “Governmental Constraints” section of the City of Yorba Linda’s “2021–2029 Housing Element.” 24 See the “Governmental Constraints” section of the City of Escondido’s “6th Cycle Housing Element 2021–2.